Hermetic compressor

ABSTRACT

A hermetic compressor having improved configuration of a cylinder head to more efficiently attenuate noise and vibration of refrigerant discharge. The hermetic compressor includes a cylinder block having a compression chamber in which a piston rectilinearly reciprocates, and a cylinder head coupled with the cylinder block to hermetically seal the compression chamber. The cylinder head has a suction chamber and discharge chamber, which are partitioned from each other. The suction chamber serves to guide a refrigerant to be introduced into the compression chamber, and the discharge chamber serves to guide the refrigerant, which was delivered from the compression chamber after being compressed in the compression chamber, to the outside. The hermetic compressor also includes a valve device interposed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head, to control movement of the refrigerant from the suction chamber to the compression chamber or from the compression chamber to the discharge chamber. A partition member having a bore is detachably mounted in the cylinder head, to divide the discharge chamber into two parts, in order to integrally define a Helmholtz resonator in the discharge chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2007-0071331, filed on Jul. 16, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hermetic compressor, and, more particularly, to a hermetic compressor having improved configuration of a cylinder head to more efficiently attenuate noise and vibration of refrigerant discharge.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a hermetic compressor is used as a refrigerant compression unit employed in a refrigeration cycle of a refrigerator or air conditioner. The hermetic compressor includes a hermetic container forming an external appearance thereof, and a suction pipe and discharge pipe provided, respectively, at opposite sides of the hermetic container. The suction pipe is used to guide a refrigerant, having passed through an evaporator of the refrigeration cycle, into the hermetic container. The discharge pipe is used to guide the refrigerant, which was compressed in the hermetic container, to a condenser of the refrigeration cycle.

In addition, a compression unit to compress the refrigerant and a drive unit to generate a drive force required to compress the refrigerant are installed in the hermetic container by means of a frame.

Of the above mentioned elements, the drive unit is a conventional motor. The compression unit includes a cylinder block defining a compression chamber therein, a piston installed in the compression chamber to perform rectilinear reciprocating motion upon receiving the drive force from the drive unit, a cylinder head coupled to the cylinder block to hermetically seal the compression chamber, the cylinder head defining therein a suction chamber and a discharge chamber, which are partitioned from each other, and a valve device interposed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head to control the flow of refrigerant from the suction chamber to the compression chamber or from the compression chamber to the discharge chamber.

The suction chamber is connected with the suction pipe, to guide the refrigerant to be suctioned into the compression chamber. The discharge chamber is connected with the discharge pipe, to guide the refrigerant, discharged from the compression chamber, into the discharge pipe.

To attenuate noise caused in the course of suctioning the refrigerant, a suction muffler is inserted, at an exit side thereof, into the suction chamber. Also, a discharge muffler is installed between the discharge chamber and the discharge pipe, to attenuate noise of refrigerant discharge.

In operation of the hermetic compressor having the above-described configuration, as the piston rectilinearly reciprocates in the compression chamber, a pressure difference is caused between the interior and exterior of the compression chamber. By the pressure difference, the refrigerant is guided from the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle into the hermetic container through the suction pipe, and subsequently, is suctioned into the compression chamber by way of the suction muffler and suction chamber. After being compressed in the compression chamber, the refrigerant is discharged from the compression chamber, so as to be delivered to the condenser of the refrigeration cycle by way of the discharge chamber, discharge muffler, and discharge pipe in sequence.

However, the above-described conventional hermetic compressor has a problem in that the discharge chamber has a simple function of guiding the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber to the discharge muffler, and has no particular noise-attenuating structure. Therefore, while the high-pressure refrigerant from the compression chamber passes through the discharge chamber, excessive noise and vibration occur from the cylinder head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the invention to provide a hermetic compressor having improved configuration of a cylinder head to more efficiently attenuate noise and vibration caused upon discharge of a refrigerant.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the above and/or other aspects can be achieved by the provision of a hermetic compressor comprising: a cylinder block having a compression chamber in which a piston rectilinearly reciprocates; a cylinder head coupled with the cylinder block to hermetically seal the compression chamber, the cylinder head having a suction chamber and discharge chamber partitioned from each other, the suction chamber serving to guide a refrigerant to be introduced into the compression chamber, and the discharge chamber serving to guide the refrigerant, which was delivered from the compression chamber after being compressed in the compression chamber, to the outside; and a valve device interposed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head to control movement of the refrigerant from the suction chamber into the compression chamber or from the compression chamber to the discharge chamber, wherein at least one partition member having a bore is detachably mounted in the cylinder head, to divide the discharge chamber into two parts, in order to integrally define a Helmholtz resonator in the discharge chamber.

The discharge chamber may have an open side toward the valve device and be sealed by the valve device, and the partition member, detachably mounted in the cylinder head, may be supported by the valve device and be kept at a fixed position so as not to be separated from the cylinder head.

The partition member may be mounted in the cylinder head in a sliding coupling fashion, and the cylinder head may comprise a guide rail to guide the sliding coupling of the partition member.

The suction chamber and discharge chamber may be partitioned from each other by a partition wall provided therebetween, the partition wall may be configured to define a narrow passage between a sidewall of the cylinder head and the partition wall, and the partition member may be installed in the narrow passage, to connect the sidewall and partition wall, at their locations toward the narrow passage, with each other.

The at least one partition member may comprise a plurality of partition members overlapped side by side in a thickness direction thereof, and bores of the respective partition members may coincide with one another.

The locations of the sidewall and partition wall toward the narrow passage may be provided with guide rails, respectively, and each partition member may be provided, at opposite sides thereof, with rail coupling portions to be coupled with the guide rails.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing overall configuration of a hermetic compressor in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cylinder head in the hermetic compressor in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the cylinder head shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a cylinder head of the hermetic compressor in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a cylinder head of the hermetic compressor in accordance with a still another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same reference numerals refer to the same elements throughout.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 shows a hermetic compressor in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The hermetic compressor includes a hermetic container 10 forming an external appearance thereof. A suction pipe 11 is provided at one side of the hermetic container 10, to guide a refrigerant, having passed through an evaporator of a refrigeration cycle, into the hermetic container 10. Also, a discharge pipe 12 is provided at the other side of the hermetic container 10, to guide the refrigerant, which was compressed in the hermetic container 10, to a condenser of the refrigeration cycle.

A compression unit 20 for compressing the refrigerant and a drive unit 30 for generating a drive force required to compress the refrigerant are installed in the hermetic container 10 by means of a frame 13.

The drive unit 30 includes a stator 31 coupled around a lower portion of the frame 13, and a rotor 32 rotatably installed inside the stator 31 so as to be rotated via electromagnetic interaction with the stator 31.

The compression unit 20 includes a cylinder block 21 integrally formed with the frame 13 to define a compression chamber 21 a therein, a piston 22 installed in the compression chamber 21 a to perform rectilinear reciprocating motion upon receiving the drive force from the drive unit 30, a cylinder head 23 coupled to the cylinder block 21 so as to hermetically seal the compression chamber 21 a, the cylinder head 23 defining therein a suction chamber 23 a and a discharge chamber 23 b, which are partitioned from each other, and a valve device 24 interposed between the cylinder block 21 and the cylinder head 23 to control movement of the refrigerant from the suction chamber 23 a to the compression chamber 21 a or from the compression chamber 21 a to the discharge chamber 23 b.

The valve device 24 has a suction hole 24 a to communicate the suction chamber 23 a with the compression chamber 21 a, a discharge hole 24 b to communicate the compression chamber 21 a with the discharge chamber 23 b, a suction valve 24 c to open or close the suction hole 24 a, and a discharge valve 24 d to open or close the discharge hole 24 b, operations of the suction valve 24 c and discharge valve 24 d being contrary to each other. Both the valve device 24 and cylinder head 23 are coupled to the cylinder block 21 by means of bolts (not shown).

The suction chamber 23 a is connected with the suction pipe 11, to guide the refrigerant to be suctioned into the compression chamber 21 a. The discharge chamber 23 b is connected with the discharge pipe 12, to guide the refrigerant, discharged from the compression chamber 21 a, into the discharge pipe 12. To attenuate noise caused in the course of suctioning the refrigerant, a suction muffler 14 is inserted, at an exit 14 a thereof into the suction chamber 23 a. Also, a discharge muffler 15 is installed in a path between the discharge chamber 23 b and the discharge pipe 12, to attenuate noise generated by refrigerant discharge.

The discharge muffler 15 is integrally formed with the cylinder block 21 such that it is located at a side of the cylinder block 21. To continuously guide the refrigerant from the discharge chamber 23 b into the discharge muffler 15, a connection path (not shown) to connect the discharge chamber 23 b with the interior of the discharge muffler 15 is formed in the cylinder block 21 at a side of the compression chamber 21 a. A beginning end of the discharge pipe 12 is connected to the discharge muffler 15.

A crankshaft 16 is rotatably installed at the center of the frame 13, to transmit the drive force of the drive unit 30 to the piston 22. For this, a lower end of the crankshaft 16 corresponding to a lower portion of the frame 13 is press-fitted in the rotor 32, and an upper end of the crankshaft 16 corresponding to an upper portion of the frame 13 forms an eccentric shaft portion 16 a that rotates eccentrically. The eccentric shaft portion 16 a and piston 22 are connected with each other by means of a connecting rod 17.

In operation of the hermetic compressor having the above-described configuration, if the rotor 32 is rotated by electromagnetic interaction between the stator 31 and the rotor 32, the crankshaft 16, press-fitted in the rotor 32, is also rotated, thereby causing the eccentric shaft portion 16 a to be rotated eccentrically. As a result, the piston 22, which is connected with the eccentric shaft portion 16 a through the connecting rod 17, rectilinearly reciprocates in the compression chamber 21 a, creating a pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the compression chamber 21 a.

By the pressure difference, the refrigerant is guided from the evaporator of the refrigeration cycle into the hermetic container 10 along the suction pipe 11, and subsequently, suctioned into the compression chamber 21 a by way of the suction muffler 14 and suction chamber 23 a. After being compressed in the compression chamber 21 a, the refrigerant is discharged from the compression chamber 21 a and delivered toward the condenser of the refrigeration cycle by way of the discharge chamber 23 b, discharge muffler 15, and discharge pipe 12 in sequence.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the hermetic compressor according to the present embodiment, to integrally define a Helmholtz resonator 100 in the discharge chamber 23 b of the cylinder head 23, a partition member 40 having a bore 41 is detachably mounted in the cylinder head 23, to divide the discharge chamber 23 b into two parts. With the use of the partition member 40, the hermetic compressor according to the present embodiment has an effect of efficiently attenuating noise and vibration caused when the refrigerant is discharged from the compression chamber 21 a into the discharge chamber 23 b.

More specifically, the cylinder head 23 includes a rear surface panel 51 defining a rear surface of the cylinder head 23, and four sidewalls 52, 53, 54, and 55 integrally formed at respective sides of the rear surface panel 51. The cylinder head 23 generally has a rectangular case form having an open front side toward the valve device 24. The valve device 24 closes and hermetically seals the open front surface of the cylinder head 23. For reference, reference numeral 56 denotes fastening holes for the bolts (not shown) used to couple the cylinder head 23 to cylinder block 21.

The cylinder head 23 also has a partition wall 57 to partition the discharge chamber 23 b and suction chamber 23 a from each other. The partition wall 57 convexly protrudes upward from one of the sidewalls, i.e. sidewall 52 toward an opposite one of the sidewalls, i.e. sidewall 53. The partition wall 57 has the same thickness as that of the sidewalls 52, 53, 54, and 55. With the partition wall 57, the interior space of the cylinder head 23 is divided into the suction chamber 23 a inside of the partition wall 57 and the discharge chamber 23 b outside of the partition wall 57. To allow the exit 14 a of the suction muffler 14 to be introduced into the suction chamber 23 a, a portion of the sidewall 52 below the partition wall 57 defines an opening.

The partition wall 57 is spaced apart from the sidewall 53 by a significantly shorter distance than distances between the partition wall 57 and the other sidewalls 54 and 55, and thus, a narrow passage 58 remains between the partition wall 57 and the sidewall 53. The partition member 40 is provided in the narrow passage 58 to connect the sidewall 53 and the partition wall 57 with each other. With the partition member 40, the discharge chamber 23 b is divided into a refrigerant movement guiding space 210 at one side of the partition member 40, the refrigerant movement guiding space 210 being connected with the discharge hole 24 b and muffler connection path (not shown) to guide movement of the refrigerant to be discharged, and a resonance space 110 of the Helmholtz resonator 100 at the other side of the partition member 40. The bore 41 perforated in the partition member 40 will form a neck of the Helmholtz resonator 100.

In the above-described configuration in which the Helmholtz resonator 100 is integrally defined in the discharge chamber 23 b by means of the partition member 40, the refrigerant, discharged from the compression chamber 21 a into the discharge chamber 23 b, is guided into the muffler connection path (not shown) by way of the refrigerant movement guiding space 210 along a direction shown by the arrow of FIG. 2. In this case, the Helmholtz resonator 100 produces damped waves having a phase opposite to that of pulsation caused upon refrigerant discharge. With the influence of the damped waves, pulsation of the refrigerant discharged into the discharge chamber 23 b can be attenuated, resulting in less noise and vibration of refrigerant discharge.

To install the partition member 40 in the narrow passage 58, the sidewall 53 and partition wall 57 are provided, at their positions toward the narrow passage 58, with guide rails 53 a and 57 a, respectively. Correspondingly, the partition member 40 is formed, at opposite sides thereof (more particularly, top and bottom sides of the partition member 40 shown in the drawing), with rail coupling portions 42 and 43, such that the rail coupling portions 42 and 43 are slidably coupled with the respective guide rails 53 a and 57 a. Once being slidably coupled with the guide rails 53 a and 57 a, the partition member 40 can be supported by the valve device 24 and be kept at a fixed coupling position with respect to the cylinder head 23 as the cylinder head 23 and valve device 24 are coupled to the cylinder block 21.

In the above-described configuration of the cylinder head 23, it is possible to change the damped waves produced by the Helmholtz resonator 100 by simply regulating only a diameter of the bore 41 or a thickness of the partition member 40. As a result, it is possible to attenuate noise of refrigerant discharge according to characteristics of the hermetic compressor without changing overall configuration of the cylinder head 23.

More specifically, in the hermetic compressor, revolutions per minute of the drive unit 30 are set according to a cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle employing the hermetic compressor. If revolutions per minute of the drive unit 30 are changed, a rotating speed of the crankshaft 16 and operating rate of the piston 22 and discharge valve 24 d are also changed. This results in a change in noise and vibration of refrigerant discharge.

In this case, it is advantageous that a noise attenuating frequency of the Helmholtz resonator 100 be changed to correspond to the change of noise and vibration, in view of efficiently attenuating noise and vibration of refrigerant discharge. It is noted that the noise attenuating frequency of the Helmholtz resonator 100 is changed according to the volume of the resonance space 110 and the length and diameter of the bore 41 defining the neck of the Helmholtz resonator 100. Therefore, in the cylinder head 23 of the hermetic compressor in accordance with the present embodiment, if the diameter of the bore 41 or the thickness of the partition member 40 is changed, a diameter or length of the neck of the Helmholtz resonator 100 is also changed, thus enabling a change in the damped waves produced by the Helmholtz resonator 100.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the cylinder head 23 in accordance with the present invention, in which a partition member 40′ has an increased thickness. Differently from the partition member 40 according to the previously described first embodiment, the partition member 40′ of the present embodiment has an increased thickness, thereby providing a Helmholtz resonator 100′ with a longer length of the neck. Here, the guide rails 53 a and 57 a and rail coupling portions 42 and 43 are identical to those of the first embodiment, and the increased thickness of the partition member 40′ causes a corresponding change in the volume of a resonance space 110′.

FIG. 5 illustrates a still another embodiment of the present invention, in which a plurality of partition members 40 are arranged in the narrow passage 58 between the sidewall 53 and the partition wall 57 such that they are overlapped side by side in a thickness direction thereof. This configuration also causes a change in the length of the neck of a Helmholtz resonator 100″, and consequently, a change in damped waves produced by the Helmholtz resonator 100″.

In the present embodiment, the sidewall 53 or partition wall 57 is provided with a plurality of guide rails 53 a or 57 arranged consecutively to correspond to the plurality of partition members 40 in a one to one ratio. Also, each partition member 40 has the rail coupling portions 42 and 43. The plurality of partition members 40 mounted in the cylinder head 23 come into close contact with one another such that their bores 41 coincide with one another.

As the bores 41 of the respective partition members 40 are connected with one another to define an elongated neck of the Helmholtz resonator 100″ designated by reference numeral 41″, the present embodiment has the effect of enabling a change in damped waves produced by the Helmholtz resonator 100″.

As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a hermetic compressor having the following effects. Firstly, according to the present invention, a partition member having a bore is detachably mounted in a discharge chamber of a cylinder head. The partition member serves to integrally define a Helmholtz resonator in the discharge chamber, to attenuate noise caused by refrigerant discharge. As a result, by providing only such a simplified element such as the partition member, the hermetic compressor according to the present invention can efficiently attenuate noise generated by refrigerant discharge.

Further, according to the present invention, the bore of the partition member forms a neck of the Helmholtz resonator integrally defined in the discharge chamber. That is, by adopting various partition members having different bore diameters and bore lengths, a diameter and length of the neck of the Helmholtz resonator can be changed. This causes a change in damped waves produced via the Helmholtz resonator. As a result, by choosing a partition member having a bore length or bore diameter suitable to desired damped waves, the present invention has the effect of attenuating noise of refrigerant discharge in consideration of characteristics of the hermetic compressor.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A hermetic compressor comprising: a cylinder block having a compression chamber in which a piston rectilinearly reciprocates; a cylinder head coupled with the cylinder block to hermetically seal the compression chamber, the cylinder head having a suction chamber and discharge chamber partitioned from each other, the suction chamber serving to guide a refrigerant to be introduced into the compression chamber, and the discharge chamber serving to guide the refrigerant, which was delivered from the compression chamber after being compressed in the compression chamber, to the outside; and a valve device interposed between the cylinder block and the cylinder head to control movement of the refrigerant from the suction chamber into the compression chamber or from the compression chamber to the discharge chamber; wherein at least one partition member having a bore is detachably mounted in the cylinder head, to divide the discharge chamber into two parts, in order to integrally define a Helmholtz resonator in the discharge chamber.
 2. The hermetic compressor according to claim 1, wherein the discharge chamber has an open side toward the valve device and is sealed by the valve device, and the partition member, detachably mounted in the cylinder head, is supported by the valve device and kept at a fixed position so as not to be separated from the cylinder head.
 3. The hermetic compressor according to claim 1, wherein the partition member is mounted in the cylinder head in a sliding coupling fashion, and the cylinder head comprises a guide rail to guide the sliding coupling of the partition member.
 4. The hermetic compressor according to claim 1, wherein the suction chamber and discharge chamber are partitioned from each other by a partition wall provided therebetween, the partition wall is configured to define a narrow passage between a sidewall of the cylinder head and the partition wall, and the partition member is installed in the narrow passage, to connect the sidewall and partition wall with each other.
 5. The hermetic compressor according to claim 4, wherein the at least one partition member comprises a plurality of partition members overlapped side by side in a thickness direction thereof, and bores of the respective partition members coincide with one another.
 6. The hermetic compressor according to claim 4, wherein the locations of the sidewall and partition wall toward the narrow passage are provided with guide rails, respectively, and each partition member is provided with rail coupling portions to be coupled with the guide rails.
 7. A hermetic compressor comprising: a cylinder block having a compression chamber in which a piston rectilinearly reciprocates; a cylinder head coupled with the cylinder block to hermetically seal the compression chamber, the cylinder head having a suction chamber and discharge chamber partitioned from each other, the suction chamber serving to guide a refrigerant to be introduced into the compression chamber, and the discharge chamber serving to guide the refrigerant, which was delivered from the compression chamber after being compressed in the compression chamber, to the outside; and at least one partition member having a bore and detachably mounted in the cylinder head, to divide the discharge chamber into two parts, in order to integrally define a Helmholtz resonator in the discharge chamber. 